Many thanks to those who animate Apophysis flames! The feedback was very good and helpful in figuring out how to improve the plugins. This latest package offers the updated cubic3D and hexnix3D plugins which feature smooth transitions into and out of the plugin as well as transitions between options in the Variables list.

They both offer significant improvements and new features from the earlier versions. hexnix3D is named after ideas in an essay by Johannes Kepler, “The Six-cornered Snowflake” which is the first known dissertation about crystalline structures. The package includes a snowflake gradient pack.

Three new 3D conversions from 2D plugins are included here. Since this is a collection pack it includes all the recent 3D plugins as well as the new material. There are additional plugins where they are required in the demo flame file.

A number of new plugins are in the works, but not quite ready for release. Among them will be the Polar Rose plugin, called pRose3D.

A few more notes:

I have made an effort to make sure that the flame operates smoothly as values change, so that something at =0.0 doesn't suddenly change appearance at =0.001. However, one of the plugins included in this package does have occasional "behavior issues"...

The 3D mod "polar2_3D" can pull surprises! I struggled with a ton of different code arrangements to figure out where the jump was coming from. Suddenly I hit on the problem, fixed the code and happily tested it. Everything operated smoothly. Then I went to a test flame file I had used earlier and found that even the fixed version, in some circumstances will jump in appearance. Numerous tests have been perfectly smooth, but occasionally I get the right or "wrong" combination of plugins and there will be a sudden jump - usually it seems, in the Z realm.

If you animate with this plugin, check the operation with your unique parameters. When that happens, it's typically going into or out of the variation at the =0.0 and =0.001 level. If I can eventually figure out why and how this interaction takes place, it will get fixed.

A most useful plugin is "foci_3D"! Especially designing with the lattices. If the pattern starts to spread all over the place with blurry or undefined stuff, try a little bit of foci_3D, either positive or negative, and see what happens. It works by itself real well too.

Enjoy your creativity!